The classical guitar is a stringed musical instrument of the lute class in which taut strings provide the source of sound. Usually it possesses a long fretted neck and six strings, which are played by strumming or plucking. It has a compass of over three octaves and its six strings are tuned to E, A, D, G, B and E from the lowest to the highest pitches respectively. Unlike the stringed instrument of the violin family, guitar is played by twitching the fingers of the right hand (plucking hand) across the strings, while the fingers of the left hand (fretting hand) are positioned on one or more of the strings as the appropriate frets in order to obtain the desired chords.
In the past, those learning to play the acoustic guitar typically spent numerous hours practicing over many days to strengthen finger muscles and develop calluses, particularly on the fretting hand. Once finger strength and calluses are developed the player will experience less discomfort when playing the guitar. Most students with sufficient dedication continue to practice regularly until they reach a plateau in their ability wherein further improvement would demand much more of their time and resources. After this point many guitar players spend less time playing and, without the stimulation thus provided, loose those hard-won calluses. When these are gone, playing becomes somewhat painful. Thus, there is a need for a device that enables new and seasoned guitar players to keep those hard-won calluses and maintain good fret hand coordination.
Learning to play the guitar requires learning the particular locations for strings and frets as well as developing or maintaining the ability to quickly and easily depress the proper string locations. The beginning guitar student will find that there are two essential steps for playing a chord correctly on the guitar: (1) pressing down on the correct locations; and (2) pressing down all three fingers firmly, simultaneously and making contact with the fingerboard. When first learning to play guitar, the player's weaker fingers generally do not press down all the way to the fingerboard. So it is necessary to build up the calluses as well as strengthen fingers through daily practice in order to effectively play this musical device. Thus, there is also a need for a training or practice device that enables less skilled players to develop calluses and strengthen fingers.
In the recent past, the guitar has undergone various changes in its shape, functioning, usage, etc., thereby reducing the difficulty in handling the device. Presently, there are various ‘guitar chord finder devices’ available to help make guitar playing easier. These devices help the beginning guitar player learn the various chords needed to play the guitar successfully.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 20050109196 describes a handle for grasping by one hand and a neck with a fingerboard for fingering with the other hand for use by stringed instrument players. The fingerboard is correlated to a section of the fret-board of a conventional stringed instrument such as a guitar, bass, or banjo. The fingerboard has string ridges that provide a pressure-resistant feel to simulate playing the corresponding string instrument.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 20020029681 describes a “Guitar chord finder device”, which is said to aid beginning guitar players in learning the various chords needed to play the guitar successfully. The device may be used in either learning or testing mode. The design of the device resembles the exact shape of the first four frets on a regular guitar, plus an additional space at the bottom (of about two inches), which contains various switches used to operate the unit. In the digital learning mode, when the user selects one of the basic guitar chords the corresponding proper finger location will light up on the fret board for that given chord. The user then places his/her fingers on the indicated location and a green light will appear once the fingers are placed in the proper positions. In the digital testing mode, the user selects one of the basic guitar chords and then he/she has to place his/her fingers on the proper location on the fret board, without the digital lights indicating where the spots are. If the fingers are placed in the correct locations the green light will signal a successful attempt. The device can be held in one hand or two, as there will be a sliding rule on the back for adjusting positions.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,127,615 describes a stringed-instrument practice device for improving a player's rhythm-hand technique involved in playing a stringed instrument. In one embodiment, the '615 device is described as comprising a generally rectangular base having a plurality of tunable strings. The base has two rests thereon with a series of fixed screws for fixing one end of each string and a series of adjustable screws for attachment to the other end of each string. Adjustment of the adjustable screws allows adjustment of the tension in each string. The practice device is desirably fitted with a transducer/microphone that allows connection of the instrument to an external amplifier and may have an in-built rhythm generator, amplifier, earphone jack or speaker, and controls incorporated into the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,178 describes a training device said to be useful for people who play guitar or similar stringed instruments. Its main purpose is to build hard callus pads on the ends of the fingers used in chording the guitar. Its secondary purpose is to strengthen the muscles used to press strings against frets. To accomplish the first, the device is provided with raised edges simulating the cross-section and texture of actual guitar strings. To meet the second need, the edges are mounted on a spring-loaded button to simulate the give and tension felt in making chords.
UK Patent Publication No. GB 2092816-A describes an electronic device in the form of a rectangular box used for teaching musical instruments such as guitars, wherein the upper surface of the device has two sections designed to represent a guitar. One section is opaque except for narrow strips representing the strings of the instrument. The second section is provided with two banks of push buttons, a clear button and a switch. Lines of light emitting diodes are provided under the strips to simulate fingering positions. By operating appropriate buttons, notes or chords in any selected key can be displayed in the correct positions so that the correct fingering position can be taught.
In addition, Japan Patent Publication No 2003-216019 describes a guitar finger-training machine described as addressing the problems pertaining to finger pain due to training for long time when a trainee trains the finger operation of the guitar by using the real guitar.